Defined Contribution Fund

The Defined Contribution Fund Investment Options are intended to be primary retirement savings vehicles for members. Members have investment discretion over their accounts by selecting among an array of investment options designed for retirement savings. Members choose from the following funds:

Self-Managed

Offer a diversified mix of investment options that span the risk-return spectrum and give members the opportunity to diversify their accounts.

Offer investment options that 1) avoid excessive risk, 2) have prudent degrees of diversification relative to broad market indices, and 3) provide long-term rates of return, net of all expenses and fees, which achieve or exceed the returns on comparable market benchmarks.

Offer members institutionally priced (low cost) investment options.

Offer members and beneficiaries meaningful, independent control over their accounts.

Member-Directed Plan participants direct the investment of their member and employer contributions into the sixteen professionally managed investment options. Combined Plan participants direct the investment of their member contributions.

Investment Philosophy

It is OPERS’ preference to utilize investment managers who have demonstrated consistent investment processes, styles and competitive returns, which may include internal and external investment managers. Selected investment managers will have a high probability of meeting or exceeding benchmark performance over subsequent three- to five-year periods while adhering to the management style for which they were selected.

A primary goal in structuring the investment options and selecting the investment managers is to obtain low, institutional pricing on investment management services. In order to achieve this goal, the preferred vehicle type is one that has the lowest cost, whereby daily unit values for the Defined Contribution Fund are calculated by the custodian (or its designee) and reported daily to the record keeper.

It is the responsibility of the OPERS Board of Trustees to provide a range of distinct investment options that allow members the opportunity to achieve risk and return strategies that meet their objectives. It is the Board’s intention to provide a sufficient number of investment options to meet the needs of members. The Board shall reasonably limit the number of investment options to minimize member confusion and to avoid excessive administrative costs.